I saw so many movies at this place, I couldn’t count them all. There were even Summer kids movies for 25 cents. There was nothing like spending most of a hot day there for less than a dollar. In a way I’m glad I moved away from Arizona several years ago. It just kills me that most of the places in Phoenix from my childhood are gone. I am glad for the memories though: Bob’s Big Boy on Thomas and Central, Bill’s Records at Park Central Mall, Legend City, concerts at the Memorial Coluseum, The Palms Theatre on Central, Odessey Records on 12th Street and Camelback, chasing The Monkees from Sky Harbor to Mountain Shadows Resort in my 1961 Galaxy 500, KRUX, KRIZ, John’s Green Gables on Thomas and 24th Street. It’s like a flood.

I’ve come across a couple of references to architect Bud Magee as Charles Magee and Charles “Bud” Magee. In addition to the Christown, and the Buena Vista at Tucson, he designed at least one other NGC house, the Fox Theatre in Provo, Utah, opened in 1967. There’s a rendering of the Provo Fox in Boxoffice, April 24, 1967.

The old Christown Theatres went from 1 screen to 2 then to 5 then to 11. Theatre 3 was the large auditorium which featured 922 seats, THX sound and 70MM capability. I was fortunate to see many of the big blockbusters in that autitorium and several in 70MM…. RAISE THE TITANIC, THE BLACK HOLE, DISNEY’S SLEEPING BEAUTY, INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, STAR TREK 4 THE VOYAGE HOME. Also saw ROCKY, SUPERMAN, STAR TREK II, GANDHI, TOP GUN, AND TITANIC among others in that auditorium. Does anybody know if Harkins kept the 70MM projectors when he closed this theatre or the old Cine Capri? If he did, he needs to have a 70MM FILM FESTIVAL like the great movie exhibitors do in Europe. Anyone wanting info on these festivals can look them up on the great website 70MM.com.

Of the the numerous movie theaters I have frequented over the years of my life, Chris Town Theater is the one frequented the most frequently. I was raised in Phoenix but am now living in Northern Arizona. I just learned that the theater has been demolished and it is sad because so many great memories are tied to this theater. I guess it’s true that all good things must come to an end.

I remember this theater and mall well from my youth. We used to come to this theater to see many movies in my high school days. I remember seeing Friday the 13th part 3 3D and Rocky movies in the HUGE auditorium. I was in awe of the sheer size of the place. It was awesome. Now, almost all of the theaters I went to in my younger days and the old , big movie houses and malls are gone except for the Valley Art theater in Tempe. As a movie buff and a history teacher, I hate the fact that AZ does a terrible job of preserving their historic buildings and our past, in the name of progress. Maybe someday, we will. At least we still have the Orpheum.

I used to be a Doorman for this theater in high school, 1979-81. Mr. Griffith was the manager and he came from the Fox Theater in downtown Phoenix. He was a Doorman and Usher back in the 30-40’s and he was close to being in his 70’s or 80’s back then. I’ve seen a photo of him as a kid and he looked the same. We had a man named Larry that made popcorn all day and I think he was either a genius or a moron, he was in his 60’s. Many of my friends worked there, Robert Rosell, Tim the Karate dude and David Butterworth, a couple of hot girls including the best of all time and I should have snagged, Christine Holland. Love’s Restaurant was next door, a great BBQ place. We were robbed several times, including twice by the same gang. They claimed to have a sniper across the street, they worked over Larry and ran out the back door. There was a special hatch on the roof and the police would watch for car thieves, I’d go up there to hide and kiss the girls. The Elephant Bar was across the street and we would get drunk and eat at Peter Piper Pizza. Back then you could drink at 18 years, so that meant you could drink at 16. I could tell you several good stories but I would get in trouble. We often would allow other theater employees to watch movies for free back then. There were days of glory and I had a blast. There were many celebrities and stories behind the scenes back then. The main theater had lots of props and novelties from former movie events, like from Wallace and Ladmo. Thank you Lila, Mr. Griffith, Russ and everyone that was kind to me. Thank you to all the pretty ladies that worked there too. I had it made and didn’t know better. Jeff Durbin, Paris France

The August 30, 1971, Boxoffice article about the addition of a second auditorium to the Chris-Town Theatre, which I cited in an earlier comment, can be seen online at this link. From the photo on the first page of the article, as well as various parts of the text, I get the impression that the Chris-Town 1 and Chris-Town 2 didn’t share any common areas inside, though the article never explicitly says that this was the case.

As I noted earlier, architects Pearson, Wuesthoff & Skinner designed the Chris-Town 2.